Rural Brain Drain Fix: Community Colleges Eye Bachelor’s Degrees

In a quiet but seismic shift reshaping the higher education map, a growing number of states are empowering community colleges to award bachelor’s degrees — a move that could revolutionize college access for millions of Americans marooned in what experts call “education deserts.”

Just under 13 million adults in the U.S. live beyond a reasonable commute from a four-year university, according to the American Council on Education. That isolation is deepening as rural private colleges shutter, public universities consolidate, and struggling campuses slash programs amid plummeting enrollment and tighter budgets.

Now, policymakers across the country are looking to two-year schools as a lifeline not just for students, but for local economies. Roughly half of U.S. states already allow community colleges to grant bachelor’s degrees in targeted, high-need fields like nursing, education and tech. The momentum is spreading.

In Iowa, where the state’s 15 community colleges still operate under a two-year model, lawmakers have commissioned a feasibility study — part of a bipartisan push to meet workforce demands and bring education closer to home. “It’s all about serving our workforce needs,” said Rep. Taylor Collins, the Republican chair of the Iowa House Higher Education Committee, according to NPR. “There are a lot of students who want to live locally.”

The appeal is clear: In Illinois, three-quarters of community college students surveyed said they’d pursue a bachelor’s if they could stay on their current campus, according to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. In Kentucky, lawmakers are weighing a plan to convert a two-year technical college into a hybrid institution offering both technical credentials and four-year degrees, per Northern Kentucky Tribune. Wyoming and Texas are also expanding programs.

Temple College, located in the corridor between Dallas and Austin, will open a new center this summer that partners with Texas A&M University to offer bachelor’s degrees, including in engineering tech with a focus on semiconductors.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that fewer than one in four rural Americans hold a bachelor’s degree, compared to a national average of 33%. That gap is growing. And according to a Gallup poll for the Walton Family Foundation, rural students are less likely than their urban peers to believe a degree is within reach, largely because of geographic barriers.

But this growing wave of community college-based bachelor’s programs isn’t without resistance. Four-year universities, themselves threatened by shrinking pools of traditional students have pushed back, concerned about turf, tuition dollars and duplication of programs.

In California, where community colleges were granted permission to offer bachelor’s degrees in 2021, tensions have flared with the California State University system. Some proposed programs have been blocked over claims of redundancy, forcing the state to appoint a neutral mediator.

Despite the hurdles, the underlying issue is clear: Community colleges need students, and rural regions need accessible degrees. Enrollment at community colleges has dropped nearly 40% over the past decade, according to federal data supplied to The Hill. At the same time, sectors from healthcare to advanced manufacturing are desperate for trained workers.

As traditional college models falter, community colleges may be the key to unlocking a new era of localized, workforce-driven higher education — one where ambition doesn’t have to mean relocation.